A driver who fell asleep at the wheel drove across my lawn and took out an 80 year old yew. Before it gets chipped/taken to the dump, if someone is interested in some of the wood, please contact me. I am in Baltimore, MD. Jock 443-994-6025

6 replies so far

I grew up in Baltimore many years ago but I am not familiar with the Yew tree. What does the grain and color look like? How would we go about me getting a small quantity to try? Are you having this milled and to generally what sizes?

Thanks, OldWrangler

-- I am going to go stand outside so if anyone asks about me, tell them I'M OUTSTANDING!

I believe it is an English yew and not a Pacific yew. Yes, apparently the wood is used to make bows among other things. I googled yew and it gave some descriptions. I believe it said it had some yellow and browns. I believe they said it was good for turning. Right now it is sitting in pieces on my front lawn. There are several chunks that are straight and about 4 feet long and 8-10” in diameter. The insurance company was going to pay to have it removed, but I figured it was an unusual wood and probably rare to have a bush/tree this old and this size and figured people working wood might be interested. I found this old exchangehttp://lumberjocks.com/topics/28508but I think they are mostly talking about Pacific yew. The tree pictured looks nothing like the English yew which is more bush like.Give me a call if you want to discuss this further.

The English Yew is a whole different tree. The Pacific Yew and the Japanese Yew are more of a big shrub. And you are right about being used for bows. This was a long time ago when the English Archers were a fearsome bunch. When guns came in the bow went it way but there are still many uses for the lumber, like furniture. I would really like a piece but I don’t know how I could pick it up. I only get in your area for HS reunions every 5 years, next one being our 60th in 2016. I may not be in good enough shape to make that one. If you are ever able to get it sawed up I’d be happy to buy some and pay the shipping. Let me know.

George

-- I am going to go stand outside so if anyone asks about me, tell them I'M OUTSTANDING!

George,Where do you live? Also, how much would you want? As you can probably tell from what I have written that it is not milled. I would just cut a section if you wanted it shipped. Ideas on how to ship?

Also, from googling pictures of Pacific, Japanese and English, it looks like the English is more of a shrub/bush, the Pacific looks like a tree and from what I could tell the Japanese seems somewhere in between but not sure about that.